A new finding in human physiology

Some original work in physiology and pharamacology – how sweating can be easily controlled by posture and anti-inflammatory properties of anti-hypertensive drugs

When lying down after a late night as the ‘Cultural Secretary in 2nd year of Goa Medical College in the summer of 1986, I found that only one side of my body was sweating – the right side (when I was lying on the left) – and when I turned to lie on the right, the left side started sweating – with a midline demarcation from head to toe. It was a very surprising finding as the ceiling fan was full on in a hot and humid night and I did not expect the side facing the fan to sweat more or remain wet.

The next day, I tested this in my father and brother, and after searching for it in vain in all our textbooks, discussed it with our Professor of Physiology – Dr Ramesh A Dhume, asking him if this was a hitherto unknown physiological finding. He agreed and we applied for a student grant and performed an experiment – which proved this new finding to be real[1]

Other papers on physiology and pharmacology – written during medical school are on scientifically proven effects of meditation[2][3] and some new effects of common drugs[4]